18 Life Lessons Learned From Traveling The World

Vanuatu - Protection from Cave Spirits

I just read a great article that I want to share with fellow travelers and want-to-be travelers called 18 Life Lessons Learned from Traveling the World. It is well written, easy to understand, and reflects the lessons we have learned from our nomadic lives.  As you read through this blog with photos, click on any of the captions and you will be  taken back in time to the detailed blog or photo album of the experience.

Traditional Eating Position of "old people" in this Fijian Villag

As Americans, we like to think of ourselves as world savvy, but in fact we are insulated from the rest of the world.  Only 39 percent of us have passports and the majority of Americans have never ventured outside the boarders of the USA.  Many would have a hard time finding Alaska on a map, little less Vanuatu or Fiji.

Vanuatu family in the midst of meal preparation

Our access to world news, geography, and events is paltry, overshadowed by local stories, celebrity gossip,  polarized political snarkiness, and narrowed curriculum taught in our schools, all of which minimizes and trivializes our viewpoint regarding the rest of the world and limits our understanding, compassion, and acceptance of other cultures, people, and languages different from our own.

It is really an imperative that young Americans travel more and experience the rest of the world so that when our opinons are formulated, they are derived from first hand knowledge and experience, not from media or the majority of Americans who have never ventured out of their country and perhaps not even out of their state or city.  

Russ fits eyeglasses throughout the South Pacific

Assisting Cook Island Rangers in Suwarrow jetty repair

We would become a stronger nation by being more knowledgeable and less opinionated about which we know nothing.  The term "ugly American" is derived from opinionated American travelers with a superiority based in ignorance, fear, and misinformation.

You do not need to possess a lot of wealth to travel.  You need to possess the will to travel and you can find many ways to do so inexpensively.  Look into Affordable Travel Club if you are 40+ and Air BNB for inexpensive accommodations around the world.  Young and old can Sign up to be a crew member on a yacht.
Hostels are for all ages and are a wonderful communal living experience with people from all over the world.

Russ and I have joined a couple of travel/service organizations recently to promote friendship and be goodwill ambassadors.  Several years ago when we started our sailing voyage, we became Commodores of the Seven Seas Cruising Association where the symbolic motto is to "leave a clean wake".

Roz teaching Vanuatu children living in the shadow of a volcano,  geography and plate tectonics

Mt. Yasura and Vanuatu Photos - Click Here

We are now members of US SERVAS of SERVAS International and Friendship Force International, Sacramento Chapter.  Both of these organizations promote friendship, peace, and cultural understanding domestically and around the world.  We visit their homes and invite them to visit ours.  We have found that it is the people not the places that have enriched our lives.

Russ teaching generator repair in Vanuatu

If you have not yet read the article about 18 Life lessons from Traveling the World, please do so.  Hope you will join us as fellow adventurers, travelers, and good will ambassadors.  Our whole world is a a magnificent place, not only for the natural beauty, but for the rich diveristy of animals, culture, and wonderful human beings.

Cheers from the Worrall Travel R's

AND....We are Home!

California is in Sight!

Mt. Shasta Welcomes Back to California

After 15,311 miles of cross country travel from California to the East Coast, North to Nova Scotia, West Again through Canada, and south from Vancouver to California, we are now home.

Our fifth wheel Trail Blazer was wonderful and suited our needs perfectly, especially once we got a handle on backing into places with it.  We actually think backing a fifth wheel is harder than anchoring.

The RV is getting a well deserved rest for a couple of months until we head south to Arizona to join the rest of the snow birds the first of the year.

NEXT BIG TRIP IN THE WORKS

In April we leave for Japan, China, Russia, and Eastern Europe.  We'll keep you posted as those plans develop. We will be touring with small groups and crossing China to Russia by train (May 9 to June 5 - 09/05/14 Australians put the day first and month second), until we get to Eastern Europe, then we plan to EurRail down to Turkey July-September.  Let us know if you want to join us or meet up with us somewhere along the way!

Cross Country Wrap Up - Friend and Family Visiting - The Horse is Heading for the Barn!

By the time we reached Washington State,  the Trail Blaze R and the Worrall Travel R's were touristed out.  Having been to Washington and Oregon several times, we took photos of only those places we had not previously been and for photos of family and friends along the way.  Visiting, not touring, was the highlight of our time heading south to home.

Enjoy some of the last of the photos as we made our way home.

Our first stop was in Bothell, where our niece Denise, her husband Matt, and their son Dixon joined us for a BBQ at the Campground.  We took Dixon geocaching and set up an account for him.  Hope he enjoys this new hobby of treasure hunting with Mom and Dad.

Matt, Denise, Dixon, and Russ

We also had the opportunity to visit Alicia, Jeremy, and son Vin in Bothell.  Alicia is the granddaughter of Johnie and Bev, our sailing buddies.  We met Alicia when she graduated from high school and her parents took her cruising in Alaska for her graduation present.  We had a wonderful time then and visiting with them in Bothell.  We had such a good time playing with Vin and playing cards, I forgot to take any photos.  Darn!

When we left Bothell, we headed south to Gig Harbor and spent a couple of great days with Army friends, Glen and Claudia.  They were our sponsors and the first people we met when Russ was assigned to Germany in 1970.  We have been friends ever since.  Terrific people and lots of fun!  We taught them how to play Fiji Rummy, and ate way too much of Claudia's great cooking.

Glen and Russ look like they came out of the same mold.  They even speak RV.

We had planned on visiting Mt. Rainier, one of our favorite places, on our way out of Washington, but you guessed it.....rain, rain, rain.  So we continued into Oregon and spent a night at the Mt. Hood RV Park.  We stayed there many years ago in my mom and dad's class C when our kids were in high school and attending the Mt. Hood Ski Camp during the summer.  It's still a lovely place, very green, and this time of the year, very wet!

Leaving Mt. Hood, we dropped down to Bend, Oregon to visit friends Tim and Meryl.  They were our slip buddies in Emeryville for many years and have since moved to Oregon where they have built a wonderful home.  We had a wonderful time with them.

Meryl and Tim

What a great visit, and we fell in love with Bend. We might be considering this as a place to relocate!  Wow, skiing, rafting, kayaking, rock climbing, golfing, beautiful parks, quaint shops, lots of cultural activities.  While we were visiting, Mt. Bachelor got its first snowfall of the season.  The ski area is only 20 minutes from town.

Winter is in the Air....Time to Fly South

Ski Runs on Bachelor

Once again, we were on the road

Heading south west to Shady Cove on the Rogue River to visit friend Dede and Bill from Colfax who have relocated to their slice of Paradise, Fish Camp on the Rogue.  Our plan to was to drive by Crater Lake on the way, but the snow that fell closed the road.  Oh well!  Next time!

We enjoyed a great afternoon with Dede, Bill, and friends at Fish Camp.

Yum!

Alas, it was time to head home.  We dropped down into California past Mt. Shasta, and down past Mt. Lassen.

Mt. Shasta

Mt. Lassen

Before spending a couple days at Lake Almanor with Russ's brother Don and sister-in-law Diane, we made a stop at Birney Falls.

We celebrated our home coming and Don and Russ's Birthdays at the Lake Almanor Country Club.

Don and Diane

So that's it folks.  We have been home now a few days in California where tons of little house projects have already started to consume our time, and I thought I would get this blog posted before we got too busy.   Russ attended a Lions club meeting this week and volunteered at Rail Road Days yesterday to work in the Lions Vision Van.  We interviewed for SERVAS, a world wide hospitality network to spread world peace, saw the movie Rush...great!  and trekked a 10 km folks march with the Placer Pacers today around Colfax and down the Stephens Creek Trail.  It's good to be home.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel R's as we settle in for the Fall in Colfax.  

Cheers!

Canada Finale - Waterton, Whistler, Vancouver

When we left Jasper and Banff, our intent was to head to Washington via southern Canada and Idaho.  For the most part, we were able to  implement our travel plans, traveling from mountains to plains in Alberta.

Canada

Along the way, we visited the Bar U Ranch which is now a part of Canada Parks.  Established in the 1800's this ranch is a historical landmark of cattle ranching in Canada.  The old buildings are preserved and the flavor of yesteryear still exists.

After an afternoon of enjoying ranch life, we headed through the plains from the Rockies to the top of the Cascades and Waterton Lake, where we enjoyed some bicycling, hiking, and bear watching.

Prince of Wales Hotel

Lake Waterton

Red Rock Canyon

Idaho

We bade farewell to Canada not sure that we would be traveling back to Vancouver.  We dropped down into Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, to visit our friends Gail (Moura) and Cam MacVean who are building their dream home on their property overlooking the lake.  We enjoyed a three day visit, hiking, geocaching, playing cards, and filling ourselves with wine, laughter, and renewed friendship.

We Introduced Gail and Cam - 2 MooseLaTrek to Geocaching - Tucker doesn't look thrilled.

The House is Coming Along Well

Cam, Roz, Gail, Russ

While we were in Coeur D'Alene, we were able to introduce some other friends whom we met while traveling in New Zealand, the Lamps, Theresa and Steve from Spokane, WA, to Gail and Cam.  We all enjoyed a fine lunch at the Bardenay Brewery.

Theresa, Roz, Steve, and Russ

Washington

All too soon it was time for us to move on.  We were now heading across Washington to Antacortes. Our first stop was the Grand Coulee dam,

 then through Cascade National Forest on Highway 20.....well not quite.  Fortunately before we got too far along, we discovered that Highway 20 had suffered from several rock and mudslides during the last storm and the road was closed.  We would have to detour far south or up north on the other side of the US/Canadian border.

Back to Canada

We rearranged our plans, and headed north deciding to travel to Vancouver after all and heading south from there.  Once again in Canada, we drove north up to Whistler Mountain where enjoyed a couple of days in beautiful clear weather.  Our hikes in the mountains were magnificent.  We rode from Whistler Peak to Blackcomb Peak on the tram.  The weather couldn't have been better.

After a brief two days in Whistler, we traveled down the mountain to Vancouver, where we revisited Vancouver, having been there several times before.

This time, we spent less time sight seeing and more time visiting with friends,  Clark and Nina on Rikki Tikki Tavi.

These are sailing friends who crewed with us on the Baja Ha Ha in 2009.    We enjoyed a wonderful lunch and afternoon in the Vancouver sunlight in False Creek where they were anchored.

The following day we, visited our friends, Eva and Marek, whom we had met while traveling in Southeast Asia, earlier this year.  They have a lovely apartment in downtown Vancouver.  Eva prepared us a delicious lunch.  We drank wine, watched travel slides, walked through Stanley Park, and ended the day with Sushi and wine.

When we reflect on all of our travels, the times we remember the most are those spent with good friends.  The last leg of our Canadian trip is now memory filled with friends from Idaho, Washington, and British Columbia.

Good Bye Canada

We are now in the USA, Anacortes, and spending time with friends, Marcia and Dave Meyer on Juniata.  Our Canadian Adventure has come to a close and we are homeward bound, the last leg of our cross country adventure.

All is well with the Worrall Travel R's